THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION is famously stuffed with enough ideas for five films. The cast and crew struggled to simply sum it up. We give our best efforts to make sense of Buckaroo Banzai’s efforts to combat the Red Lectroid Menace from Planet 10 that need Buckaroo’s Oscillation Overthruster to crash the barrier through the 8th dimension to free their fellow villains from that Phantom Zone-ish prison before going back to Planet 10 to overthrow the Black Lectroids. If that sentence makes no sense, we can’t blame you. We’re still puzzling out how Orson Welles is somehow involved. And how does Ellen Barkin’s separated at birth twin from Buckaroo Banzai’s late wife factor in?

But, with a movie as famously packed with incidents, characters, and jokes as this one, perhaps trying to make sense of the plot instead of just going with the flow is the wrong way to watch this one. We certainly discuss John Lithgow’s over the top performance, which is crazy even for crazy John Lithgow performance. We also talk about all the character actors in the film. Try to make sense of how it all fits together. Is it a satire of Doc Savage? Discuss our favorite gags. And try to make sense of what it’s trying to say, if anything, on a deeper level.

We wrap things up with listener mail and list off some of our favorite weapons from science fiction films.

Even if you don’t understand what precisely is happening, give us a play below or Download the episode. Also, feel free to let us know what you think by commenting below or Email Us at [email protected] as we appreciate feedback.

The 40th Anniversary of STAR WARS is approaching, and as background we take a look next month at George Lucas’s first feature film THX 1138 and the student film that lead up to it. We’re sure to discuss the talents and potentials of George Lucas in what’s sure to be an interesting conversation.